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WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE: It was a long day of working on amendment agreements and taking votes, but Senate leaders are happy where the WRDA is heading. In separate interviews, EPW Chairwoman Barbara Boxer and ranking member David Vitter predicted final passage of their water legislation early next week. But things are going slower on the other side of the dome. Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster said he hopes to have a bill ready by “summer-ish.” “We’re certainly watching the debate over there just to see some of the pros and cons of what they’re doing over there,” Shuster told MT. “We’re going to draft a House bill. I imagine there will be things I see in the Senate bill that I like.” Shuster’s move to write his own bill doesn’t seem to upset Vitter. “Whether they start from a blank sheet of paper … or if there’s any possibility of them taking up our bill and amending it,” Vitter said. “I feel very confident that WRDA is near the center of his radar.” But Boxer stressed urgency to MT and hopes the House works as quickly as it can. “The fact that we haven’t had a WRDA bill since 2007, it’s time we did it,” Boxer said. “It’s time sensitive because since we have no earmarks everything has stopped in many cases in many states. And this would set a path forward.” More on a tale of two chambers from Adam and Burgess: http://politico.pro/10HFeBY

Wednesday’s amendment action: Tom Coburn pulled one gun amendment to WRDA and his provision that would have repealed a firearms ban on Army Corps land lost narrowly, 56-43 (with a 60 vote threshold). Meanwhile, Sheldon Whitehouse’s language to establish a National Endowment for the Oceans passed, 68-31. A quintet of amendments were also UCed: Jim Inhofe’s amendment on a WIFIA rural set-aside, John McCain on the effectivness of levee grants, Patty Murray on modifying the definition of a cargo container and two from Mark Pryor on EPW changes to a spill protection rule for farms and a work-in-kind credit. Scott has more on the Coburn gun amendment vote: http://politi.co/10bGoto

ALL ABOUT TSA — Privatize it: Firms are jostling for a chance to conduct background checks on thousands of frequent fliers. Industry sources say at least two well-known firms in the security field have raised their hands so far: Chertoff Group, led by former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, and a rival firm called Clear. The agency is exploring the idea of putting a third party in charge of conducting background checks on passengers who apply for the agency’s expedited-screening program, known as PreCheck. It’s part of a broader push by the TSA to allow low-risk travelers to zip through airport checkpoints, speed up security lines and free agents to spot potential terrorist threats. That effort is applauded on the Hill, where House Homeland Security Chairman Mike McCaul has pressured TSA Administrator John Pistole to expanded PreCheck as quickly as can be done. But he did have some questions about the potential privatization of background checks. “When it gets into the law enforcement realm, sometimes it’s hard to contract that kind of stuff out,” McCaul said. Scott and Burgess have more in today’s paper: http://politi.co/15rOBP5

Taking stock: DHS deputy inspector general Charles Edwards agreed verbally to a request from House Homeland Security ranking member Bennie Thompson to look into whether TSA technology stored in warehouses might be able to be redeployed in lieu of purchasing new equipment. “We are missing what I think is a reasonable opportunity to save taxpayers some money by going into the warehouse,” Thompson said.

TWIC flick: The GAO issued a report criticizing the pilot test of the TWIC card-reading program and recommending that Congress step in to slow things down. “Congress should halt DHS’s efforts to promulgate a final regulation until the successful completion of a security assessment of the effectiveness of using TWIC,” the watchdog found. John Mica holds a hearing on the program this morning. The report: http://1.usa.gov/13ivjbm

MIDNIGHT STAY: The FAA will not eliminate midnight shifts at FAA towers this year as the agency had warned could happen due to the sequester, according to an email from an agency official obtained by MT. The email said FAA COO David Grizzle is telling aviation groups that the 72 facilities initially identified (http://1.usa.gov/15B3FqT) by FAA for overnight closure will stay open.

Whispers: Everyone we are talking to expects a decision to come possibly even this week in favor of keeping 149 contract towers open past DOT’s June 15 date to end federal funding. DOT says there’s no decision yet despite plenty of rumors to the contrary. Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller told MT he’d heard “nothing new” while House Aviation Chairman Frank LoBiondo said he’s expecting news any day now. “But if they’ve said anything, I haven’t heard it,” he told MT.

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ANOTHER TOWERING ISSUE: Jerry Moran, who has been working overtime on the contract tower issue, won’t offer an amendment on the issue to the WRDA measure currently on the Senate floor. “We're hopeful the FAA will announce the cancellation of the contract control tower closures soon,” a Moran aide told MT.

Cardin explains: Sen. Ben Cardin, who put out a release last week with fellow Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski praising FAA on its decision to keep the towers open even though nothing has been formally announced, explained the release in a chat with our colleague Darren. “The information we got from the secretary's office is that the flexibility that we gave them that there's sufficient resources to keep the towers open, that's basically the information that we got from the secretary,” he said.

THIS DREAM’S NOT OVER: The NTSB has signed a contract for “urgent” imaging scans of lithium-ion batteries in support of its 787 Dreamliner investigation, saying they’re needed “as soon as possible” because of the FAA’s recent decision to return the fleet to service. The FAA lifted the grounding order on Boeing’s 787 fleet in late April after approving the manufacturer’s plan to reconfigure the plane’s battery systems. The changed configuration contains more redundancies and protections against whatever might have caused smoke and fire incidents aboard two separate Dreamliners earlier this year. So far, neither Boeing nor the FAA has identified a root cause in either incident, and the NTSB investigation still ongoing. Kathryn for Pros: http://politico.pro/YuEJhZ

NTSB followup: NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss later told Kathryn that the agency will repost the contract minus the reference to the 787’s return to flight and the language about how the tests must be done “within the shortest timeframe possible … to avoid potential future accidents involving this type of aircraft battery.”

DRONES HAVE POTENTIAL, HURDLES: Commercializing the use of drones in the United States could unlock vast potential in applications outside the military, but the greatest regulatory and public perception hurdles are yet to come. Panelists at the RTI International forum in Washington said drones could reshape search and rescue, national disaster assessment and precision agriculture. Colorado Sen. Mark Udall said within the next few years, commercialized domestic drones could even add up to $85 billion to the U.S. economy and create as many as 70,000 new jobs. Caitlin takes it away for Pros: http://politico.pro/16Z43Sh

MT POLL — Future of transportation: Break out your crystal ball — what’s the future of transportation? Better roads and self-driving cars, high-speed rail, more mass transit or maybe even personal jetpacks? Take a guess about the future — just do it before Sunday at noon: http://bit.ly/18AAF13

NEW POLITICO JUNKIES: Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, Maggie Haberman and John Harris roundtable on this week's top stories, including Sanford's win, Christie's weight and 2016, and the Benghazi probe. WATCH: http://politi.co/ZJeWA9

NEED MORE TAX COVERAGE? POLITICO Pro Tax is perfect for those who need a deeper dive on tax policy and regulatory affairs in Washington. POLITICO Pro Tax is delivered by 6 a.m. to help policy professionals get a jump on the day. In addition to delivering an earlier version of Morning Tax, Pro provides minute-to-minute coverage of the cross section of tax policy and regulation in Washington. For more information, call Pro Services at (703) 341-4600 or email info@politicopro.com.

THE COUNTDOWN: DOT funding and passenger rail policy both run out in 145 days. Surface transportation policy is up in 513 days and FAA policy in 875 days. The mid-term elections are in 544 days.

CABOOSE — The forgotten quadrant: Want to know why Southwest D.C. has developed apart from much of the rest of Washington? The answer, as is everything in MT, is about transportation and interstate highways dividing the city. The Atlantic Cities: http://bit.ly/144dr2N

OOPS: We wrote yesterday that Frank Lautenberg and Jim McGovern’s bill would apply the 80,000 pound truck weight limit to the entire National Highway System, but omitted the fact that exemptions for heavier trucks in place before June 1, 2008 would be maintained. We regret the error.

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